Audio conferenceing system
First Claim
1. A computer workstation for connecting to a network and for playing out multiple audio input streams received from the network, wherein each audio stream comprises a sequence of digital audio samples and has a weighting parameter associated therewith, the weighting parameter representing the volume with which the associated audio stream is played out, the workstation including:
- means for storing the digital audio samples from each audio input stream received from the network in a separate queue;
means for forming a sequence of sets, each set containing one digital audio sample from each audio input stream;
means for weighting each digital audio sample in a set in accordance with the weighting parameter associated with the audio stream from which the audio sample originated;
means for producing a sum from each set of weighted digital audio samples;
means for generating an audio output from the sequence of sums of weighted digital audio samples;
and means responsive to user input at the workstation for adjusting said weighting parameters to control the relative volumes within the audio output of the multiple audio streams.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer workstation receives multiple audio input streams over a network in an audio conference. The audio input streams are kept separate by storing them in different queues. Digital samples from each of the queues are transferred to an audio adapter card 28 for output. A digital signal processor 46 on the audio adapter card multiplies each audio stream by its own weighting parameter, before summing the audio streams together for output. Thus the relative volume of each of the audio output streams can be controlled. For each block of audio data, the volume is calculated and displayed to the user, allowing the user to see the volume in each audio input stream independently. The user is also provided with volume control for each audio input stream, which effectively adjusts the weighting parameter, thereby allowing the user to alter the relative volumes of each speaker in the conference.
243 Citations
10 Claims
-
1. A computer workstation for connecting to a network and for playing out multiple audio input streams received from the network, wherein each audio stream comprises a sequence of digital audio samples and has a weighting parameter associated therewith, the weighting parameter representing the volume with which the associated audio stream is played out, the workstation including:
-
means for storing the digital audio samples from each audio input stream received from the network in a separate queue; means for forming a sequence of sets, each set containing one digital audio sample from each audio input stream; means for weighting each digital audio sample in a set in accordance with the weighting parameter associated with the audio stream from which the audio sample originated; means for producing a sum from each set of weighted digital audio samples; means for generating an audio output from the sequence of sums of weighted digital audio samples; and means responsive to user input at the workstation for adjusting said weighting parameters to control the relative volumes within the audio output of the multiple audio streams. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method of operating a computer workstation, connected to a network, to play out multiple audio input streams received from the network, wherein each audio stream comprises a sequence of digital audio samples and has a weighting parameter associated therewith, the weighting parameter representing the volume with which the associated audio stream is played out, said method comprising the steps of:
-
storing the digital audio samples from each audio input stream received from the network in a separate queue; forming a sequence of sets, each set containing one digital audio sample from each audio input stream; weighting each digital audio sample in a set in accordance with the weighting parameter associated with the audio stream from which the audio sample originated; producing a sum from each set of weighted digital audio samples; generating an audio output from the sequence of sums of weighted digital audio samples; and adjusting responsive to user input at the workstation said weighting parameters to control the relative volumes within the audio output of the multiple audio streams. - View Dependent Claims (10)
-
Specification